Jerome A. Cohen, a remarkable legal scholar who demystified China’s intricate legal system and courageously championed human rights, passed away peacefully at his Manhattan home on Monday at the age of 95. He was celebrated as one of the first foreign lawyers to establish a practice within China.
His passing was confirmed by his devoted sons, Ethan and Peter.
Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and a former student and colleague, lauded Cohen’s unparalleled influence, stating, “He single-handedly created the field of Chinese law studies in the United States. It’s truly uncommon to see a discipline so thoroughly defined by one individual from its very inception.”
Initially, Cohen’s path seemed set for a distinguished yet traditional career in legal academia. After excelling at Yale Law School and clerking for two Supreme Court justices, he began teaching conventional law subjects at the University of California, Berkeley.
However, a unique opportunity to delve into Chinese language and law emerged. Despite the widespread bewilderment of his peers—given China’s political turmoil and restrictions on American visitors at the time—Cohen embraced this challenge, embarking on an extraordinary journey.
After mastering Chinese, Cohen relocated to Hong Kong, where he conducted extensive interviews with refugees from mainland China. These conversations, which included former police officers, offered invaluable glimpses into the operational complexities of courts and prosecutors during Mao Zedong’s era. His pioneering efforts led to the establishment of an East Asian law program at Harvard Law School, where he served on the faculty from 1964 to 1979.
Following Mao’s death, as China opened its doors to Western investment, Cohen transitioned to the private sector. He provided crucial counsel to foreign corporations and enlightened Chinese officials eager to grasp the nuances of commercial law.
In 1990, Cohen joined New York University, where he became a mentor to a diverse group of legal professionals and human rights advocates from across Asia. Until his final days, he remained an outspoken critic of China’s escalating authoritarianism under President Xi Jinping.
His passing triggered a wave of heartfelt tributes from prominent figures across Asia – including politicians, lawyers, academics, and activists – many of whom credited him with shaping their careers, and even securing their freedom. Notably, Chinese law professor Xu Zhangrun, whom Cohen vocally supported after Xu was dismissed and placed under police surveillance for criticizing President Xi, offered a powerful eulogy.
In his eulogy published in China Heritage, Xu Zhangrun wrote, “His passing truly marks the end of an era. For Jerome Cohen, the idea of legal rights was always grounded in a profound respect for basic human rights.”
Born on July 1, 1930, in Elizabeth, N.J., Jerome Alan Cohen grew up in nearby Linden. He was the younger son of Philip Cohen, an attorney, and Beatrice (Kaufman) Cohen, a schoolteacher.
A brilliant student, he distinguished himself in high school before pursuing international relations at Yale University, and subsequently, its esteemed law school.
During his college years, he met Joan Lebold; they married in 1954. Joan, along with their three sons—Ethan, Peter, and Seth—seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren, survives him.
In his recently published memoir, Eastward, Westward, Cohen candidly recounted the prevalent antisemitism that often hindered bright Jewish law students, including himself, from securing coveted summer internships at top-tier law firms.
Despite these challenges, his career soared. After graduation, he and Joan moved to Washington, where he served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Earl Warren and later Justice Felix Frankfurter. He then honed his skills at Covington & Burling and as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office before joining the University of California, Berkeley, in 1959, initially teaching criminal law.
The following year, a pivotal moment arrived when the law school sought a candidate for a Rockefeller Foundation grant to study Chinese language and law. With China largely inaccessible to Americans and its legal system shrouded in mystery, finding a suitable scholar proved difficult. Unable to find anyone else, Cohen considered the challenge himself.
Some colleagues reacted with skepticism. In his memoir, Cohen recollected Dean William L. Prosser of the law school cautioning him, “Don’t throw away your career on China.”
Yet, Cohen was undeterred. His wife, Joan, who shared a passion for Asian art, began her own studies in Chinese history and culture, eventually becoming a respected art historian, curator, writer, and photographer.
Upon mastering Chinese, Cohen and his family moved to Hong Kong in 1963. With scant official documents available, he meticulously interviewed mainland refugees, including former police officers, to understand the true workings of China’s legal system. These efforts culminated in his groundbreaking 1968 study, “The Criminal Process in the People’s Republic of China, 1949-63.” This was just one of over a dozen books he authored, co-authored, or edited, many of which became essential guides to Chinese law.
Donald C. Clarke, an emeritus professor at George Washington University Law School, reflected, “He demonstrated the immense value of understanding the practical realities on the ground, rather than solely depending on official texts.”
At Harvard, Cohen actively advocated for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Beijing. He harbored a strong desire to visit mainland China, making various unsuccessful attempts, including written appeals and even a whimsical proposal to buy a panda for an American zoo.
His persistent efforts paid off in 1972 when he joined a small delegation of scholars on a visit to Beijing and other Chinese cities. Cohen vividly remembered the challenge of engaging cautious locals over breakfast. The pinnacle of his trip was a memorable dinner with China’s Premier, Zhou Enlai.
Cohen recounted Premier Zhou Enlai remarking, “I understand that you have done many books on our legal system,” delivered with a tone that “gently implied that perhaps I had made more of China’s legal system than China had.”
With Mao’s death, as China became more receptive to foreign visitors and investment, Cohen’s expertise in Chinese law became highly sought after by international businesses. He dedicated himself to educating Chinese officials on drafting contracts, commercial regulations, and tax policies.
Cohen made the bold decision to leave his professorship at Harvard to practice law full-time, joining Paul Weiss in 1981. He inspired a new generation of lawyers to specialize in Chinese affairs. Colleagues frequently reminisced about his vibrant energy, his selfless dedication to nurturing students and junior attorneys, and his signature bow tie.
During this period, he and his wife spent considerable time in China, where he actively contributed to drafting contracts, offering corporate advice, and resolving commercial disputes.
Yvonne Y.F. Chan, whom Cohen brought to Paul Weiss, admired his boundless intellectual curiosity: “He had an insatiable thirst to learn. Even in the midst of arduous negotiations, he would pose questions that seemed tangential, driven by a genuine desire to understand the other party’s perspective.”
Cohen officially retired from Paul Weiss in 2000 but maintained his professorship at NYU until 2020, where he established the U.S.-Asia Law Institute. His commitment to China endured; he continued to visit the country and undertook select cases, such as representing Zhao Yan, a New York Times researcher who was falsely imprisoned for fraud in 2006 after initial, unfounded accusations of stealing state secrets were withdrawn.
He consistently championed Chinese legal and human rights activists, notably Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, who received lengthy prison sentences in 2023 for “subversion of state power.” He also played a crucial role in the case of Chen Guangcheng, a blind legal activist who famously escaped house arrest, sought asylum in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and eventually emigrated to the United States in 2012.
Sophie Luo, Ding Jiaxi’s wife, recounted Cohen’s unwavering support, “He organized a seminar to ensure widespread attention to the case. He connected me with key individuals and mobilized resources, determined that they would not be forgotten.”
While Cohen frequently voiced concerns over China’s increasingly repressive policies under President Xi, he steadfastly refused to succumb to despair.
In an interview published last year in The Wire China, he optimistically stated, “I’m not entirely pessimistic, unlike some others. China’s trajectory has always been like a pendulum. We are currently experiencing a repressive phase, but this will not, cannot, last.”